The Louisiana designer seamlessly melds opulence and family heirlooms with Southern hospitality

Decorating, Melissa Miles Rufty says, is like helping to take a small company to the next level. “You don’t get rid of everything and start over—you build on what’s there,” says the New Orleans–based designer, who began her career in advertising and marketing. Rufty has honed an aesthetic that’s opulent yet approachable, crafting settings where bold color—a library lacquered kingfisher-blue, say—meets contemporary upholstery, modern art, and antique accents that are often family heirlooms. “Southerners are all about history and a sense of place, of where you come from,” the South Carolina native explains, adding that her goal is to create interiors whose components “don’t look like they all arrived the same day.” Hospitality and comfort are part of the package: Small tables stand at the ready for holding drinks; banquettes nestle beneath staircases for intimate chats. Rufty, who set up her practice a dozen years ago, is now hitting her stride. And with recent projects in London and New York, it seems her spirited style is no longer a Big Easy secret. mmrinteriors.com